A ride through northwest Indiana almost turned deadly for a Chicago man after some mutual road rage turned into gunshots being fired at him on I-80/94.
What Indiana State Police called a “road rage incident turned ugly” started about 11 a.m. Tuesday when the 28-year-old Chicago man, driving a 2003 Acura, got involved in some unpleasantness in the eastbound lanes of the Borman Expy. in Lake County.
Police said it started when the victim and another driver “became involved in road rage” — things like not letting the other car pass and flipping the driver off, a statement from ISP said.
But as the Acura approached the Route 51 exit in Lake Station, the other car, a black 1997 BMW, pulled alongside and the back window of the Acura “exploded,”police said.
The Chicago man then looked over and saw the other driver pointing what he thought was a gun, and driver of the BMW then fired a second shot, police said. The Acura then exited the expressway at the Indiana Toll Road exit near Portage and the driver called 911.
An ISP trooper was able to pull over the BMW on eastbound I-94 near the Michigan City/LaPorte exit, and found what turned out to be a CO2-powered BB gun and a 45 semi-automatic handgun inside, according to police.
The driver, 24-year-old Emmanuel Antonio Ontiveros-Leyva of South Bend, Ind., was charged with criminal recklessness and taken to the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, police said. Additional charges may be pending.
